Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:HPY, OTC:HPYCF) CEO Jason Bahnsen spoke with Proactive about a 10,000-meter exploration drilling program at the Fox Tungsten project in British Columbia.
He emphasized that the 139-square-kilometer project hosts one of North America's highest-grade tungsten deposits, with an initial resource estimate from 2018 of approximately one million tons at a combined grade of around 1%.
The current drilling campaign aims to expand this resource by targeting several newly identified mineralized horizons, potentially increasing the project's overall tonnage.
Proactive: You have an up to 10,000-meter exploration drilling program at your Fox Tungsten projects in British Columbia. Can you tell us what’s planned?
Jason Bahnsen: Yes. At Fox, it’s a 100% owned, large-scale, district-scale project covering about 139 square kilometers. We acquired the project in 2006 and have done several campaigns of drilling since then. We published a resource in 2018 with about 1 million tons in total of indicated and inferred resource at around 1% combined grade, which is very high for tungsten.
That's impressive, and one of the highest-grade tungsten deposits in North America, right?
Yes, it's one of the highest-grade deposits in North America and among the higher grades globally. This drilling program is aimed at expanding that resource. Notably, in our 2018 resource estimate, over 50% was in the indicated category, so there’s a good level of confidence there for an initial resource. That resource was primarily based on one particular area, the BKRC and the end zone, where mineralization occurs in calc-silicate horizons.
Now, we’ve since identified multiple new horizons that are similar, up to 20 meters in thickness, and flat-lying. We've found three additional horizons spaced around 50 meters apart in what we call the upper zones, which could potentially replicate the current resource in those locations. There’s also potential in areas like Nightcrawler and South Grid, which haven’t been drilled to the density needed for an NI 43-101 report yet. Overall, the mineralization spans over 10 kilometers, so there’s a lot of upside here.
When do you expect to start this exploration project?
The project is at an elevation of up to about 4,600 feet. Given that it’s winter now, we’ll begin as soon as conditions allow. The most southern prospect areas, South Grid and the Nightcrawler Creek zone, are road-accessible and at a lower elevation, so they’ll be our first entry points. For the higher elevation zones, like the upper BKRC zones, we’ll likely start in late June or early July, depending on access. We’ve previously drilled these with helicopter support, and we have exemptions in place to continue with that if needed. We’re also working with First Nations and government groups to potentially extend road access in the future, which would connect Nightcrawler to the upper zones.
Talk to us about the demand for tungsten and its significance as a critical metal.
Absolutely. As demand for critical metals grows, there are also increasing opportunities for funding, especially from U.S. defense and related programs. This project’s standout feature is its high-grade deposit. Plus, it’s in an accessible area, not too far north, and near power and infrastructure—everything you’d want for potential development. Right now, our resource is at 1 million tons. If we can expand that to a range of 3 to 5 million tons, it would be globally significant.
Also, having a North American source for tungsten is crucial as demand for metals from reliable jurisdictions increases. This project, located in British Columbia, represents a very strong future for Happy Creek, especially now that we’ve sold our Highland Valley copper project to Metal Energy, which allows us to focus on Fox Tungsten and other assets like Silver Boss and RDL.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style